WoW Forever Battlegrounds
WoW Forever has four battlegrounds: Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, Alterac Valley and the new Darkspear Islands, a 15 v 15 fight over bases and a central flag. This guide covers their levels, queues, rewards and starting tactics.
Battleground sizes and levels
| Battleground | Per side | Levels |
|---|---|---|
| Warsong Gulch | 10 | 10–60 |
| Arathi Basin | 15 | 20–60 |
| Darkspear Islands New | 15 | 30–60 |
| Alterac Valley | 40 | 51–60 |
Blizzard announced Darkspear Islands' 15 players per side and levels 30–60 on October 7. The other rows are beta game data, and Icy Veins lists the same values.
Level brackets
You are matched with players in your level bracket. Most brackets span ten levels, so a level 30 character can meet level 39 players, and those at the top of a bracket have the edge. Alterac Valley has a single bracket, so a level 51 character can face level 60s.
| Battleground | Brackets |
|---|---|
| Warsong Gulch | 10–19, 20–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60 |
| Arathi Basin | 20–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60 |
| Darkspear Islands | 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60 |
| Alterac Valley | 51–60 |
How to queue
- Capital cities: talk to a battlemaster in Stormwind Keep (Alliance) or Orgrimmar's Valley of Honor (Horde), as Icy Veins reports.
- Darkspear Islands: use any capital-city battlemaster or the portal at your faction's Barrens base, Merchant Coast (Horde) or Northwatch (Alliance). Both bases also have the battleground's quests and reputation vendors.
- Dalaran: Wowhead reports battlemasters for all four battlegrounds in the Underbelly. Blizzard's October 15 update says Horde characters are attacked on sight in Dalaran; the Sewer Key quest no longer grants open-world access. Horde players should use Orgrimmar or the Barrens portal for Darkspear Islands.
- Entrance portals: Wowhead's PvP guide also lists a queue portal at each battleground's entrance in the world.
- Rulesets: Normal, PvP and Roleplaying characters can meet in the same battlegrounds. You cannot group across rulesets, so you cannot queue with a friend on another one.
- Hardcore: the ruleset arrives after launch and will not share these battlegrounds. Blizzard has not said whether it gets battlegrounds of its own.
Objectives and starting tactics
Blizzard has described Forever's objectives only for Darkspear Islands. The tips under each map are our starting tactics.
Darkspear Islands: four bases and a central flag
Blizzard's rules (October 7): Darkspear Islands lies off the coast of Dustwallow Marsh. Teams score by holding any of four capture points, and the more you hold, the faster you score. A flag waits in the middle of the map: bring it to a base your team holds for extra points. The first team to 2,000 points wins.
- Bases before the flagTake a base before anyone goes for the flag, since you deliver it to a base your team holds. Icy Veins reports that a flag capture is worth more for each base you hold at the time.
- Carrying the flagRun to the nearest base you hold, and keep its defenders there until the flag is in.
- Leaving a baseSay who covers it before you go. An empty base is easy to lose, and every base you lose slows your score.
See the Darkspear Islands guide for the map, entry and reputation.
Warsong Gulch: capture the flag
Warsong Gulch is 10 v 10 from level 10, and the only battleground in the 10–19 bracket. Icy Veins describes it as a capture-the-flag battleground.
- Stopping their carrierSlow or root the carrier. In the 10–19 bracket, slows include Frostbolt (Mage, level 4), Earthbind Totem (Shaman, 6), Hamstring (Warrior, 8), Concussive Shot (Hunter, 8) and Wing Clip (Hunter, 12). Roots include Entangling Roots (Druid, 8) and Frost Nova (Mage, 10). Levels are from Wowhead's Forever database.
- Guarding your carrierEscort your carrier with a healer and a player who can slow chasers.
Arathi Basin: hold bases
Arathi Basin is 15 v 15 from level 20. In Classic, teams capture and hold bases to gather resources. Blizzard has not published its Forever rules or resource rates.
- Holding basesLeave a defender at each base you hold. A fight on the road between bases neither takes nor holds one.
Alterac Valley: 40 v 40
Alterac Valley is for levels 51–60. Blizzard has not described its Forever objectives yet; we will add tactics when it does.
Battleground rewards
Battlegrounds give Honor and Rank Points, plus marks for the map you played. Blizzard says battlegrounds highlighted in their holiday week give extra Honor and Rank Points. It also reviewed Honor gains to make rates more consistent across battlegrounds, so that you need not pick Alterac Valley just for Honor.
| Result | Reported reward |
|---|---|
| Win | 3 marks and bonus Honor |
| Loss | 1 mark |
- Each battleground has its own mark: the Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, Alterac Valley and new Darkspear Islands Mark of Honor. Blizzard raised battleground mark stacks from 20 to 30 on October 15.
- Some PvP gear costs marks as well as Honor; see PvP gear and rewards. Wowhead reports that marks can also be traded for reputation and experience.
- Darkspear Islands has two new reputations: Darkspear Raiders for the Horde and Theramore Expeditionary Force for the Alliance. Their vendors sell trinkets, rings, cloaks, weapons, armor and consumables, and Exalted unlocks a short questline for the faction tabard.
- Exalted with each of the four battleground reputations earns one Legacy point. PvP ranks lists the reputations.
Recent battleground changes
- Beta characters can level to 30. The Honor cap rose from 15,000 to 25,000.
- Blizzard published Darkspear Islands' rules, entry and rewards, and its PvP progression article with the holiday-week bonus and the Honor review.
- Blizzard fixed the Shipwreck Cove capture point, which appeared in the wrong place.
Sources
- Blizzard: Beta development notes, October 15 update, post 6 (Oct 16 UTC / Oct 15 US, 2026; checked Oct 22): mark stacks and Horde access to Dalaran. Announced changes; exact build not named.
- Blizzard: Battle for the Darkspear Islands (Oct 7, 2026): Darkspear rules, size, levels, entry and reputation rewards.
- Blizzard: How PvP progression in WoW Forever works (Oct 7, 2026): Honor and Rank Points from battlegrounds, holiday-week bonuses and the Honor review.
- Blizzard: Choose your ruleset (checked Oct 12, 2026): shared battlegrounds across rulesets, no cross-ruleset groups, Hardcore after launch.
- Blizzard: Get to know the Legacy system (Sep 23, 2026): Legacy points for Exalted battleground reputations.
- Blizzard: Beta development notes, October 1 and October 8 updates: the level 30 cap, the Honor cap and the Shipwreck Cove fix.
- Beta game data on wago.tools, build 1.60.1.70205 (read ): battleground sizes and levels and level brackets.
- Icy Veins: PvP in World of Warcraft: Forever (checked Oct 12, 2026): battlemaster locations, sizes and brackets, Warsong Gulch's objective, marks per match and Darkspear flag scoring.
- Wowhead: PvP overview in Forever (read Sep 29, 2026): marks per match, bonus Honor, entrance portals and trading marks.
- Wowhead: What to do in Dalaran (Sep 29, 2026): battlemasters in Dalaran's Underbelly.
- Wowhead: Forever item and spell database (checked Oct 12, 2026): Mark of Honor limits and the levels of slows and roots.
Guide changes
: Updated mark stacks and Horde access to Dalaran from the October 15 notes.
: First version, with team sizes, level brackets, queue locations and marks.
: Checked against beta build 1.60.1.70205; updated the Darkspear Islands objective.
: Rewritten with Blizzard's Darkspear Islands rules, ruleset and Hardcore queue rules, holiday and Honor changes, and starting tactics for Darkspear Islands, Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin.